Underground utility vaults used in the communications industry can contain optical fiber cables for broadband communications, telephone and satellite TV installations, data transmission lines, and other communication wires and cables. Utility vaults for underground utility lines often need to be opened for making repairs or for adding a service. The concrete lid on the vault often contains an open-ended lid-lift hole. The lid is opened by a tool or pick with a hook at one end. The hook is inserted through the hole and used for prying the lid away from its opening atop the vault.
However, the open lid-lift holes in such ground level vaults are often used to dispose of junk or other unwanted items. Often these disposed-of items include illicit or hazardous materials such as medical waste (syringe needles, for example). In come countries the discarding of contaminated needles into underground utility vaults by drug users has become a safety hazard to the workers in the CATV and telephone industries when they enter and work in the internal vault area. This access to such disposed-of items is prevalent in lids or covers that require a full opening to allow the approved lid or vault lifting tool to function properly, for example.
The present invention provides an improvement over to the standard lid-lift hole, in which such debris can be kept out of the underground vault region, away from workers and the service equipment. And any debris that may find its way into the lid-lift hole can be easily disposed of. At the same time the invention does not otherwise adversely affect the standard way of using a tool to lift the lid from its opening in the underground utility vault.